Sheet-guide adjustment



J. R. BLAINEu SHEET GUIDE ADJUSTMENT. APPLICMION FILED SEPT-10,1917.

Pamnitefl July fi, mm

4 SHEETS-SHEET I J. R. BLAINE SHEET GUIDE ADJUSTMENT APPLICATIUN FILEDSEPT-10, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. R. BLAINE.

SHEET GUIDE ADJUSTMENT.

APPULAHON HLED sun. 10, my.

1,345,742. Patentefl My 6 19M,

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

1. Pi. BLAINE.

SHEET GUIDE ADJUSTMENT.

APPLICATION FILED SUT- 10, I91?- 1,345,'742. mmfidl uly 19%,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

7 1 96 M27555 $548 05 IEZZFKQL fie.

it til til , orrs JtlSElPl'rI .lEt. BLAINE, t3]? OAK PARK, ILLINOIS,ASSIGNOR TO MIEHLE PRINTING PRESS at MANUFACTURING CUMPANY, till?GHICAGQ, ILLINOIS, A GOBPORA'IION F ILLI- SHEET-GUIDE ADJUSTMENT.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July it, rose.

Application filed septenilier re, 1917. Serial No. 190,434.

To all whom it may concern lfic it known that l, dosnrrr 1t. BLAILNE, acitizen of the United States, residing at flak Park, in the county ofCook and State of illlinois, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements in tdheet-(iuide Adjustments, of which the following is aspeciticatiorn "With few exceptions, ithas been custon1- ary heretoforeto feed the sheets individually to a printing press against substantially stationary gages or guides, so that during the travel of thepaper it is necessarily stopped in its movement, at least momentarily,to secure the desired registration. in such cases the inertia of thepaper must be instantly overcome when the grippers of the impressioncylinder, which are constantly traveling at full speed, grasp the sheetand transfer it to the cylinder. As will be appreciated, in a structureof that character the gages and grippers must opcrate with greatprecision to secure registration of the sheet and its transfer orchiniping to the rapidly traveling impression cylinder. In other words,when a sheet of paper is raged and gripped in a press of this kind thestationary sheet has instantaneously imparted to it the full speed oftravel of the impression cylinder periph' cry, which rendersaccurateregistration diflicult if not impossible. lllloreover, an instant beforethe grippers close, the guides must get out of the way, leaving thesheet uncontrolled during this instant, affording a further chance forerror in getting accurate register.

The present invention has for its primary object the provision ofimproved means for securing accurate front and side registration ofsheets fed to a printing couple, without stopping the sheet in itsforward movement and at substantially the speed of the sheet takinggrippers and the impression cylinder whereby the full speed capacity ofthe press is utilized without its being limited in any way by thenecessary registering process, while the eorrect registry of the sheetis in. no way impaired by the speed of sheet travel.

This object is accomplished according to my invention by providing arotary sheet registering mechanism including traveling at the same speedas thegrippers on the impresslon cylinder and also 1ncluding means forfrictionally seizing the front of the sheet at the point of delivery bythe sheet feeder approximately adjacent the front gage and advancing thesheet to the aid gage; also for similarly engaging the side of the sheetand drawing it laterally to a side gage traveling with the sheet; andthereafter pulling off of the sheet an instant after the same has beentaken by the grippers on the impression cylinder,the sheet registeringmechanism and the grippers traveling in arcs approaching a point atwhich the path of the sheet is tangent to each whereby the front gagemoves in its orbit into the path of the sheet as fed, and after thesheet is registered and is seized by the grippers of the impressioncylinder moves out of the sheet path to enable the sheet to pass on withthe impression cylinder without interruption or interference.

In order that a complete understanding of the invention and more or lessof the details of constructionof a preferred embodiment of the inventionmay be fully understood, 1 have illustrated in a more or lessfragmentary and diagrammatic manner one desirable embodiment of theinvention in the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisapplication, and to which reference should be made. It is clear,however, that the invention may be embodied in other and variedconstructional forms without departure from the essence thereof,wherefore the drawing and description are to be taken in m anillustrative rather than in an unnecessarily limiting sense. r

Figure l is a detail view in front elevation and partly in verticalsection of the mechanism for imparting front register;

Fig. 2 is a detail view in side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view showing in elevation the electromagnet foroperating the front register mechanism in order to ad; just the same;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4% of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation partly in vertical section of the mechanismfor imparting side register; and I Fig. 6 is a top plan view of themechanism shown in Fig. 5. y

The present invention is an improvement upon that forming the subjectmatter of my copending applications Serial Nos. 105,321

a counterpart of the and 105,323. Although for the sake of clearness ageneral description of the same will be given, the claims herein aredirected only to the features of improvement over the constructions ofmy copending applications.

Having reference to Figs. 1 ant Zoi the drawings, adjacent and inarallel relation to the impression cylinder (not shown) is suitablymounted. in the frame of the press a shaft'1-3 suitably driven at thesame speed as the impression cylinder.

An arm 16 is keyed. upon the shaft 13 by means of an extended boss l6whereon is loosely mounted a collar 17 held stationary by means of anarm 18 which talres over the fixed rod 19 extending between the sideframes of the press. The stationary collar 17 bears cams 20 and 21 thepurpose of which will hereinafter appear.

Loosely mounted upon said boss 16 of the arm 16 is agage arm 22 carryingthe front gage 23 and having projecting therefrom lugs 24-, 25 to theformer of which is lulerumed by the pivot 26 an angle lever 27, 28,while the lug; 25 serves as a mounting tor a swivel block 29 screwthreaded lor engagementby a screw 30 mounted within a imilar swivelblock 31 and boiling a worm wheel Fulcrumed on the gage arm 22 by thepivot 33 is an anglel ver 34-, The arm 28 of the first mentioned anglelever carries a roller 36 adapted to travel on the cam 20 while the arm34 of the other angle lever carries a roller 37 adapted, to travel onthe cam 21. To the arm 27 of the first a ale lever is connected by meansof a pin 3-8 and a slot 39 an arcuate shoe l0 extending hori- Zontallyfrom another arm 41 which is likewise loosely mounted upon the boss 16.To the extreme front end of the shoe llis pivoted at 42 by means of alink 43 and a second pivot :l-lthe lower end of a rod 416 which latteris mounted to slide within a swivel block 47 mounted at 4-3 in the outerend of the arm 85 of the second angle lever. The link -13 hasprojectingbeyond its pivot 42 flipper 4-) the purpose art which willhereinafter be made clear. A spring" 5? serves to hold the roller 36against its cam while a similar spring 50 serves the same purpose withreference to the roller 37.

It should be understood that the shaft eatends the full width at thepress and that mechanism above described is mounted upon the shaft 12)and the rod 19 near the two sides of the press. that is to say separateda distance slightly less than the width of the paper to be fed, so thata front gage is provided tor etlecz'iing register of the sheets thefront edge and adjacent each side. The arms 16 are slidahle longi'udinally upon'the shaft 13 so as to iiroperly position the tworegistering mechanisrnsin order to act upon. the sheet at the properpoint. The position of each having been detern'iinci'l. the arm us isClitll'lljiitl upon the shaft ii-l by means of the set screw device 16acting in an obvious manner. The worm whccl 32 of the screw 30 may bethen manipulated by hand in order to position the gage arms 22 on thetwo mechanisms in exact transverse aliucmeat and in the proper positionlongitudinally to ell'ect the proper front rcgistcr ol' the sheet.

The press being in motion. the age arm 22 revolves and carries with itthe trout "age 23 at a peripheral speed corresponding exactly to that ofthe grippers upon the impression cylinder by reason of its bcin; tied tothe arm n; by means ol the screw Ill). The angle lovers 2?, 9 and 35.23(3 likewise revolve with the arm 22, being tulcrumcd theretorespectively at 26 and as.

As the sheet is'il'cd to the press by the sheet feeder (not shown) itsfront edge comes against the trout gage 2?, or approximately in thatposition. usually within a sixteenth to a quarter of an'iuch lhcrcl'rom.The roller 37 riding upon the cam 21 acts through the lever ill, ll?)compicssinf; thc spring 46 and thus resilient! acting upon the lillllSall and the flipper 9 wherc the latter is closed upon the ton-vard co ofthc sheet 9 itrictionahy gripping thc samc bctwecn the flipper and thelower face of the shoe fill, the dcg roe oi said spring lrcssurc beingregulable by means of the 'xrmrlcrl nuts l6. lmnzcdiatehi tlicrm'd'tcrthe roll r in .31 the cuiu if moves the ang e 29 thereby :nl'vam-imr thcshoe and the flipper 49 relative to the gage arm and the gage 2?. thegage tra vcliug :2. tl c speed ot the grijipcrs and the shoe 10 at :2slightly greater speed by reason oi' thc a tion ot the lever. The sheetgripped at its lioi ward edge between the dipper l9 and {lw shoe id islilicwisr advanced until it comcs in cz'i'itact with tl e 23 wbcrcuponniceling: with this oh ctioo the sheet ontinues itsinovwncnt at thcspec-d o'l thc gage while the shoe il and the llippcr 4f) movcs at afaster speed. The 'ront gazrc 2i: coutiu s its movement at the speed ofthe grippers on the impression cylinder. the shre bcing hcld against theshoe -i ",1 l(l a u t ng thc by the ippcrs 19 until the grippers on ilicimpression cylinder have gripped the for ward end ot the sheet. Thistransi'cr takes place on the tangcnt point of the shoe 4! with theimpression cylinder ll sv that the flipper l9 and the ,c rippcrs if: canboth c on the sheet at the tangent point and in fact an, instant later.l uringrthe next )1l(1lf "lllll inch travel of the cylinder bevoud thctaurent point. the shoe l l has moved thc llippcr t rward out trom un erthc sheet so that the latter is tree to continue its path on theimpression cylinder. The roller 37 thco iii till

liti mama-e clears the highpart oi cam 21 and the flipper .49 is openedby the action of the spring and is then ready to receive the next sheetus -it comes into position. tbimilarly roller clears the high part ofearn 20 and spring 530 restores the lever to its original position withthe shoe ll-ll retracted incli- Clltbtl, ready for the next cycle.

As previously stated, the worm Wheel 32 upon the spindletii) may bemanipulated by hand in order to obtain an approximate adjustment of thefront register :23. The press being in motion, l'iowever, and it beingascertained that the sheets are not exactly in register, mechanism isirovided for acting upon the worm wheel in order to adjust the frontregister without stopping the press. liluch mechanism may be describedas follows: i

1* ixedly mounted on the arm 10 are a pair oi? magnets 51-52 arrangedwith their axes in oblique relation to eachother in the plane of aratchet wheel 53 and upon each side 01 the same. The ratchet wheel 53mounted upon a worm shaft 5 1 carrying the worm 5 1 which is in meshwith the'worm wheel 32 upon the screw spindle 30. The armature core 55of the magnet 51 and the arn'iature core 56 of the magnet 52 eachcarries a pivoted pawl 57-58, thenoses of which are adapted to engagethe teeth of the ratchet wheel 53. The pawls are normally pressed. intoengagement with the ratchet wheel by means of the springs 5960, but inthe extended position of the ari'nature coils 55-56 the pawls are actedupon by the stationary pin 61 and are thereby pressed out of engagementwith the ratchet wheel.

The magnet cores 55-56 are normally held in the position shown withtheir pawls out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 53 by means of thesprings 68(5l. The two magnets 51, 52 arein independent electric circuitindicated in Fig. 1. A. battery is illustrated at 65 from which.parallel circuits ell-67 including switches 6809 lead to brushes one ofwhich is illustrated at 70 in l ig. 2. The brushes are counterparts ofeach other and travel upon collector rings 71, 72, mounted upon theinsulated collar 73. The collector ring 71 connected by means of thewire 75 with the magnet51 while the collector ring 72 is connected bymeans of the wires 76 with the magnet 5%. Both of the magnets aregrounded as indicated at 77 on the press.

WllJll reference particularly to Figs. 2 and 8 of the drawings it willbe clearly understood that if one of the magnets 51 or 52 be energizedby the closing of its switch 68 or 69 as the case may be, the. armatureof the magnet will be withdrawn and its pawl will engage with theratchet wheel 53 turning with the same the entcntlo'f one notch, anduponthe deenergization otthe magnet by the opening of the switch itscore will be again extended and its pawl brought out of engagement withthe ratchet wheel by means of the pin (51. Theoperation will be repeatedas oitenas the switch is closed. The switches 68-69 may beadvantageously in the :torm of push buttons and so long as one of thesebuttons is repeatedly pressed the armature of the magnet will act uponthe ratchet wheel 53 to turn the same step by step. The turning of theratchet wheel 53 and its worm shai't 5st acts through the worm 54 uponthe worm wheel 32 to turn the screw spindle 30 and thereby advance orretract the iront gage 23.

It will thus be observed that the operator having his eye upon thesheets passing through the press and determining that the front gageshould be moved backwari l or forward to insure proper register maypress upon the appropriate switch button 68 or (39 and thereby eilectthe advancement or the retraction of the front gage, without stop-- pingthe press and with the greatest nicety. Side register.

Upon'the shaft 13 outside the mechanism for effecting front register ofthe sheet as above described, is a similar organization of mechanism foreflecting side register of the sheet (Figs. Sand 6). Herein the sidegage arm 80 is keyed to the shaft 13 by means of an extended boss 80,and a similar collar 1'? is loosely mounted upon the boss 80 and held instationary position by means of the arm 18 embracing as before the shaft19. This collar is provided with a cam 81 in one plane and another cam82 in a different plane. The side gage arm 80 carries the side gage 8 1,the position of which is adjustable transversely of" the press andlongitudinally of the shaft 13 by means of a spindle 85 journaled at 86and S7 in a bearing arm T8 clamped on the rod 19 by the clamp screw 89,the spindle having a ratchet head 90 and provided with worms 91, 92 inmesh respectively with worm wheels 93, 9 1 on shafts 95, 96 transverselyjournaled in the bearing arm 88 and having their ends in threadedengagement at 97, 98 with the arm 18".

"lransversely slid able within the gage arm 80 is a shoe 99 carrying aroller 100 which works within an oblique slot 101 of an angle lever 102,103, the opposite arm of which lever has a roller 104 arranged to atravel upon the cam 81. The other end of the shoe 99 opposite the roller100 .has pivoted thereto at 105 an arm 106 connected by means of a rod107 with a link 10S pivoted at 109 to the shoe 99, which link 108 isextended to form a flipper 110. The rod 102 is surrounded by acompression spring 111, the tension of which is adjustable by means ofthe knurled nut 112. A coil spring 113 much stiiler than 111 holds theii iii stop 114 of the arm 106 against the shoe 99; The angle lever 102,103 is fulcrumed to the gage arm upon a pivot 115, and similarly pivotedto said arm at 116 is an angle lever 117, 118, the arm 118 of which isprovided with a roller 119 arranged to ride upon the cam 82, while theopposite arm 117 of said lever has an offset portion provided with an.inclined face 120 adapted to engage the arm 106 whereby to open andclose therflipper 110.

In use, the flipper 110 is normally closed, being held in this positionby the tension of the springs 111 and 113. As the sheet is approachedapproximately to the gage 23 for front register as previously describedthe cam roller 119 rides upon the cam 82 opening the flipper 110 toallow the side edge of the sheet to pass and to offer no hindrance tothe action of the front register. Front register having been obtainedthe roller 119 rides off the cam 82 closing the flipper 110 upon thesheet S at the side thereof. Shortly thereafter the roller 104E ridesupon the cam 81 bringing the oblique slot 101 to bear through the roller100 upon the shoe 99, drawing the sheet 53 to the left, as shown in Fig.6, against the side gage 8 1, the flipper sliding upon the sheet duringthe further lateral movement of the flipper andshoe after the sideregistration of the sheet.

At the moment the grippers of the impression cylinder close on thesheet, the flipper 110 still has hold of the sheet and during the neXtone-eighth inch of travel of the cylinder, the flipper slips off thesheet and allows it to pass freely to the impression cylinder. Theflipper then remains closed until the next cycle starts. After the sheetis taken the roller 104 rides off of high part of cam 81 bringing theshoe 99 back to its starting position.

If the pressman finds that the side register is imperfect due to theside gage being inaccurately positioned laterally of the sheet path, hemay leave his position and manually turn the ratchet head 90 of theshaft left or right as may be indicated and thus through the Worms 91,92 and the worm wheels 98, 94 acting through the shaft 95, 96 shift thecollar 17 and with it the side gage 84 into a proper position so thatthe register is perfect. However, in order that this shifting of theside gage may proceed step by step and be effected by the pressmanWithout leaving his position where he can have the sheets under his eye,electromagnetic means are provided for shifting the ratchet wheel andthe shaft 85 as follows:

Upon the bracket 125 is mounted a pair of counterpart magnets 126arrangged similarly to the positions hereinbefore described withreference to the front register, with their axes inclined to each otherin an oblique relation and with their armature cores similarly providedas previously described with pawls for engagement with the ratchet wheel90. These magnets are similarly in independent electric circuitscontrolled by a push-button switch so that either of them may berepeatedly energized in order to turn the ratchet wheel 90 in onedirection or the other whereby to retract or advance the side gagerelative to the sheet travel path.

It will thus be seen that the pressman may adjust both the front andside gages step by step without leaving his position where he can mostadvantageously view the sheets as they pass through the machine in orderto determine whether or not the registration is correct and if not whatadjustment is re quired to bring about proper register.

In order to effectually guard the wiring against entanglement or damageduring the revolving motion of the gage arms and magnets, the same isillustrated in. Figs. 1 and 2 as extending from a collector ring to themagnet through bores 75 and 76* respectively formed in the hub 16" aboutthe shaft 13. Other ways for carrying these wires may obviously bedevised with, some sacrifice of compactness and safety and yet withoutmaterially detracting from the ellieiency of the invention.

I claim:

1. The combination of means for imparting front register to a sheet fedto a printing couple having grippers comprising a gage-support movingformirdly with the sheet, a gage adjustably connected to the support,and stationary means to vary the adjustment of said connection wherebyto adjust the position of the gage while the press is in motion, andcomprising a pair of electro-magnets moving with the sheet andoppositely acting upon'the gage, and independent means for energizingeither one of the magnets at will.

2. The combination of means for imparting front register to a sheet fedto a printing couple having grippers comprising a gage-support movingforwardly with the sheet, a micrometer connection between the gage andsupport, and stationary means to actuate the micrometer mechanism tovary the adjustment of said connection whereby to advance or retard theposition of the gage while the press is in motion and comprising aratchet wheel, a. pair of magnets arranged. on opposite sides of theratchet wheel and having pawl connections therewith, and independentmeans for energizing either one of magnets at will.

3. The combination of means for imparting front register to a sheet fedto a printing couple having grippers comprising a gage-support movingforwardly with the lit) It fl tit) titi

sheet, a micrometer connection between the gage and support, andstationary means to actuate the micrometer mechanism to vary theadjustment of said connection whereby to advance or retard the positionof the gage while the press is in motion and comprising a worm wheelupon the micrometer shaft, a worm shaft in mesh with the worm wheel, aratchet wheel upon the worm shaft, a pair of magnets arranged with theiraxes in substantially the plane of the ratchet wheel and upon oppositesides thereof, pawls carried by the magnet cores and arranged to engagethe teeth of the ratchet wheel in one direction of movement and to clearthe same in the other direction, and independent means for energizingeither one of the magnets at will.

t. The combination of means for imparting register to a sheet fed to aprinting couple having grippers comprising a gagesupport, a gage adjustably connected to the support and revoluble at the speed of thecylinder grippers, and stationary means to vary the adjustment of saidconnection whereby to adjust the position of the gage while the press isin motion, said adjusting means comprising a screw spindle connectingthe gage support and gage, a worm shaft, a worm on said shaft inengagement with the screw spindle, a ratchet wheel on said worm shaft, apair of magnets arranged on opposite sides of said shaft with their areat an oblique inclination to each other and in substantially the planeof the ratchet wheel, pawls carried by the armature cores of saidmagnets, said pawls arranged to engage opposite sides of the ratchetwheel as the armature core is actuated by the energization of itsmagnet, and independent means for energizing either one of the magnetsat will.

5. The combination of means for imparting register to a sheet fed to aprinting couple having grippers comprising a gagesupport, a gage adjustahly connected to the surmort and revoluble at the speed of thecylinder grippers, and stationary means to vary the adjustment of saidconnection whereby to adjust the position of the gage while the press isin motion, said adjusting means comprising a screw spindle connectingthe gage and gage support, a worm wheel on said screw spindle, a wormshaft, a worm on said shaft in engagement with the worm wheel, a ratchetwheel on the worm shaft, a pair of magnets arranged one on each side ofthe worm shaft with their armature cores substantially in the plane ofthe ratchet wheel, a pawl carried by each of the armature cores, aspring pressing each of said pawls normally into engagement withopposite sides of the ratchet wheel, means for retracting said pawl outof engagement against the operation of the spring, independent electriccircuits one for each of said magnets, a push-button switch in each ofsaid. circuits whereby either of the mag nets may be energizedindependently of the other at will in order to rotate the ratchet wheelin either one of two directions.

6. The combination of means for imparting register to a sheet fed to aprinting couple having grippers comprising a gage support, a gageadjustably connected to the support and revoluble at the speed. of thecylinder grippers, and stationary means to vary the adjustment of saidconnection whereby to adjust the position of the gage while the press isin motion, said adjusting means comprising a screw spindle connectingthe gage and support, a ratchet wheel operatively connected with thescrew spindle, a pair of magnets arranged on opposite sides of theratchet wheel with their armature cores in substantially the planethereof, pawls carried by the armature cores and arranged to act uponopposite sides of the .ratchet wheel, and means for energizing themagnet independently at will in order to rotate the ratchet wheel in oneof two directions comprising independent electric circuits eachincluding a collector ring mounted upon the hub of the gage support andalso including a push button switch.

7. The combination of means for imparting register to a sheet fed to aprinting couple having grippers comprising a gagesupport, a gageadjustably connected to the support and revoluble at the speed of thecylinder grippers, and stationary means to vary the adjustment of saidconnection whereby to adjust the position ofthe gage while the press isin motion, said adjusting means comprising a screw spindle connectingthe gage and support, a ratchet wheel operatively connected with thescrew spindle, a pair of magnets arranged on opposite sides of theratchet wheel with, their armature cores in substantially the planethereof, pawls carried by the armature cores and arranged to act uponopposite sides of the 'atchet wheel, and means for energizing the magnetindependently at will in order to rotate the ratchet wheel in one of twodirections comprising independent electric circuits each including acollector ring mounted upon the hub of the gage sup port and alsoincluding a push button switch, the wires leading from the collectorrings through longitudinal channels formed in the hub of the gagesupport to a proper connection with each of the magnets.

lln testimony whereof l have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

JUSEPH It. BLAINE.

WVitnesses it. Gr. ltrscrmn, .tn'rrinn Gr. daconsorr,

